Since officially taking over the leadership of the party in November last year, Putin has worked actively to strengthen its position all over the country. A source close to the party leadership now says to newspaper Vedomosti that “much has been done with the reformation of United Russia on the federal level, but in the regions they still do not grasp the new role of the party”. He adds that frequent conflicts between regional parliament majorities and United Russia governors often hamper the reputation of the party. An overwhelming number of the Russian governors are now members of the United Russia Party. In Northwest Russia, only Sankt Petersburg governor Valentina Matvienko still remains outside the party structures.
